Still Not Sure What I Stand For
by revivingophelia
Summary: They're going to make sure she gets her revenge. She just doesn't know it yet. Eve Torres/Seth Rollins; the Shield. Starts 12/31/12 RAW.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Still Not Sure What I Stand For

Author: Karen U

Pairing/Character: Eve Torres/Seth Rollins, the Shield, others

Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me

Rating: R

Summary: They're going to make sure she gets her revenge. She just doesn't know it yet.

Spoilers: 12/31/12 RAW

Warnings: language, violence, adult situations

Random Note: Don't know what the heck this site did, but when they started listing Seth Rollins under Tyler Black/Seth Rollins for the character name, all my stuff listed with Eve and Seth as the main characters? Suddenly had Goldust listed as the guy instead. WTH?

Another Note: This story will not be nice to Zack Ryder. Honestly, I don't think any of my stories are...

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_oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for... what do I stand for... what do I stand for... most nights, I don't know... -Some Nights, written and performed by Fun  
_

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Part One

He jerked a hand through his hair as he made his way down the hallway, well aware that the look of annoyance on his own face was mirrored on the faces of those that were with him. He didn't need to look to the side to see that, and he didn't particularly want to see the look on Dean's face, anyway. He knew the man - the leader of Shield - was pissed. Not that Seth blamed him; he was pissed, too. And Roman was definitely pissed, if the fact that he'd managed to punch a hole in the wall was any sort of an indicator.

"Orton wasn't scheduled to be here tonight," Dean Ambrose muttered under his breath, clearly angry, obviously not happy that they'd been taken by surprise during what was supposed to be a three-on-one handicap match against Ryback. It wasn't all that surprising that Sheamus had come out there during the match; yeah, they'd taken the guy down earlier in the night, but the big Irishman was resilient. Of course he would come out there to help Ryback. But Orton? The asshole loner that was supposed to still be out with a bad shoulder? That one had been a surprise.

"We'll get him back. We'll get the upper hand again," Roman said from Dean's other side, and a quick glance over told Seth Rollins that Reigns was flexing his hands as he spoke, then curling them into fists. His knuckles were bruised from where he'd hit the wall earlier.

"Of course we will," Ambrose replied, an edge to his voice, the man opening his mouth to say more, but before he could do so, the sound of a scream ripped through the air and caused all three of them to freeze.

"Let go of me, you asshole!" a voice that was definitely female shouted out, and without thinking about what he was doing, Seth quickened his pace, heading for the sound of it, then cursing loudly when he felt himself being pulled back, a hand fisted in the back of his black t-shirt as he was dragged into the nearest locker room.

"What the hell?" he hissed out, glaring at Dean. "Something's happening-"

"Give it a minute," Dean snapped out, glancing out of the room and into the hallway, Seth shoving him out of the way so that he could look as well.

He could see the glint of a title belt on the ground, obviously the divas' championship, which meant that, whatever was happening, Eve Torres, the current champion was involved in it. His fists clenching, he looked over at Dean.

"We have to stop this," he bit out, an instant before he heard a very pained male scream, the noise followed by a thud and something that sounded like it had something of a crunch behind it.

"You stupid bitch!" was yelled from the hallway, though it didn't sound quite right, like the person was having trouble speaking. The sounds of someone approaching came then, and Dean yanked the door mostly shut before they could be seen... All three members of the Shield watching as Zack Ryder stumbled around the corner. He wasn't walking right, a sign that he'd likely been kicked in the nuts, and he was clutching at his face, though blood could be seen streaming from between his fingers. He at least had a busted mouth, and might even have a broken nose; it was impossible to tell.

Seth hoped it was broken.

Shaking his head, the man started to reach for the doorknob, frowning when Dean once more shook his head. "What the hell? Someone needs to check on her-"

"And you really think that's a good idea? For us to come around that corner when she's just fought off one attacker?" Ambrose questioned, and Seth knew what he was getting at. Odds were, having the Shield suddenly come around the corner after she'd already been attacked would just scare her more. Not that they would do anything to her; but she didn't know that.

"Why didn't we help her?"

"If she'd needed it, we would have. She had to have the chance to fight him off herself, and she did. Now she knows she can do it. She can make him run like a little girl," Ambrose said, keeping his voice low as they heard more movement in the hallway. This time it was Eve, the diva hurrying her way through the hall, her jacket held tightly around her and her title belt sticking out of her bag. She looked skittish and upset, and it was no wonder, after what had just happened. Once she was gone, no longer in danger of hearing them in the locker room, Dean continued to speak. "And more importantly, Ryder knows she can do it. He knows that she can make him bleed if he tries anything. That she can make him run. It will make him think twice before he gets near her again. He knows that she can rescue herself. That she doesn't have to wait for someone else to save her."

"Damn it, Dean-"

"I know. I didn't like it, either. But she's okay. And when the Shield goes after him, he won't expect it." Ambrose smirked at the surprised look on Seth's face. "You think he's going to get away with a kick to the nuts and a busted face? No. He's our next target. He committed an injustice. And we're going to make him pay. And it's that much better that we weren't needed now, because he'll have no idea that we're coming for him until we actually do it."

"And if he tries to attack Eve again?" Seth asked, and Dean's smirk turned into an almost scary smile.

"After we're done with him, he won't be in any condition to do much of anything to anyone. We'll make sure of that."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks to those that have reviewed this one so far. :)

Part Two

She made her way down the hotel hallway, her arms wrapped tightly around her body, the strap of her bag having fallen from her shoulder and hooking on her arm. She didn't make any attempt to get the strap back up on her shoulder, wanting to keep her arms wrapped tightly around herself for as long as she could, the woman feeling a bit like wrapping her arms around herself was the only thing keeping her together. She felt like screaming or crying or kicking things or breaking things or... something.

"Deep breaths, Eve," the divas' champion muttered to herself, forcing herself to walk steadily when she really wanted to break into a run. Just run to her hotel room and curl herself into a ball and hide from it all. She couldn't believe this had happened... Yes, okay, she'd gotten away, but... Despite the fact that she thought Zack Ryder was a loser, she'd also thought he was just a total goof and not at all dangerous... But apparently he was. He'd actually tried to... He'd attempted to put his hands on...

Shaking her head, Eve's arms tightened even more around her form, the woman holding herself together literally and doing it so tightly that she was beginning to wonder if she might end up with bruises. Well, bruises besides the ones that...

"You okay?"

Eve jerked at the sound of the voice, looking around wide-eyed, automatically taking a step back from the speaker, who was obviously male. As she turned her head, she caught sight of Kofi Kingston looking at her, the man keeping his distance and, despite the fact that she told herself that it was okay, that Kofi was safe, her body wouldn't relax, probably because she'd thought that Zack was safe, too, and well...

"I'm fine," she forced herself to say, holding herself very still when Kofi approached her, a frown on his face. She fought the urge to lash out at him when he reached out to her, the diva blinking in surprise when he merely took the strap of her bag and lifted it back up onto her shoulder. "Thanks."

"No problem," he replied, not saying anything about the fact that if she'd unwrapped her arms from herself, then she could have done the same thing just as easily... Instead continuing to study her, lifting his hand to touch her face, then pulling back when she flinched. "I... Sorry. It's just... You have a bruise, and..."

"It's nothing," Eve bit out, though it was really anything but... Her brawl with Kaitlyn had included more hair-pulling than shots to the face, and the woman knew all too well that any bruise on her face didn't come from the self-proclaimed hybrid diva (and what in the hell did she mean by calling herself that, anyway? It just sounded stupid.) No, the bruise on her face wasn't courtesy of Kaitlyn (though she knew the other woman would be glad to take credit for it)... It was from when Zack Ryder had backhanded her before shoving her up against the wall and trying to... She shook her head, pushing away the thought, reminding herself that a knee to the balls and an elbow to the face had been enough to send Zack running. Well, that and the threat of more, including the possibility of pepper spray to the face. "I'm fine," the woman said, perhaps with more bite than was necessarily, especially since Kofi was looking nothing but concerned for her.

"I didn't think Kaitlyn hit your face," the man said. "Not there, anyway," he continued, his gaze moving to hers, his expression questioning and full of concern despite the fact that Eve was pretty sure he was probably among the people hoping she would lose the divas' title soon.

Jerking her head away when he seemed like he might reach out to touch her cheek, Eve took a step back, somehow unsurprised when she found her foot hitting the wall. "It's nothing you need to worry about. I'm fine," Eve stated, though she was pretty sure that they both knew she was lying. Taking a deep breath, the divas' champion shouldered way past him - careful not to flinch when her shoulder hit his arm and hit what felt like another emerging bruise - Eve hurrying toward her hotel room, forcing herself to drop her arms from around herself long enough to get out her key card and open the door to her room... As she slipped inside the room, she couldn't resist the urge to look back, finding Kofi still standing there watching her, concern still evident on the man's face.

Shaking her head slightly, Eve pushed the door shut, then turned the deadbolt and pulled the chain on it, knowing that it wasn't likely Kofi was going to try to follow her, but feeling safer that way anyway.

Taking a deep breath, the diva dropped her things on the floor, then reached up to unbutton her coat, carefully shrugging it off, then making her way into the bathroom to look in the mirror. She could see the bruising starting on her face, the mark that Kofi had seen, and she knew she'd have to work to make sure no one could see it by SmackDown on Friday. But that really wasn't what caught her attention. No, what caught her attention, what made the bile rise in her throat, was the way her button-up shirt gaped open, the buttons torn from their place, the neck of the shirt actually ripped from the force with which Zack Ryder had yanked her around. He hadn't purposely ripped the shirt open - she didn't think - but it had happened when he'd fisted his hand in the material, then thrown her against the wall. And then, when he'd realized what he'd done, when he'd looked down and seen her bra through the torn shirt... That was when Eve had screamed, hoping someone would come to help her, but when no one had, she had kept fighting.

And she'd done it. She'd made him run off. He'd been bleeding and limping, and yes, she had bruises, a mark on her face from where he'd back-handed her, and given the pain in her arm when she'd shouldered her way past Kofi Kingston, she'd likely have a bruise from where he'd grabbed her and his fingers had dug into her through the material of her jacket and shirt... But he'd been the one to run off. She'd forced him to flee, and maybe even broken his nose. So even if she was standing here, bruised and battered and with tears in her eyes, Eve Torres knew one thing, and now, Zack Ryder knew it as well. She was a fighter.

And she'd be damned before she'd let some asshole like him make her a victim. She'd hated the fear she'd felt back when Kane had been stalking her, and she'd told herself she was not going to be a damsel in distress again, not if she could help it.

Squaring her shoulders, the diva wiped at her eyes. "You are going to pay for what you did, Zack Ryder. With more than just the blood you spilled tonight. I don't know how yet, and I don't know when, but you are going to pay. I'll make sure of it."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to those that have reviewed/favorited/followed this one.

Part Three

"What happened to you?"

Eve jerked at the sound of the voice, the woman whirling around to see Booker T, the SmackDown General Manager, standing in the doorway. Not surprising, since this was his office and all. She'd just stopped by to drop off some paperwork he'd asked her for. After all, despite the fact that she knew he couldn't stand her, she was still technically his assistant. Probably because he knew that she did about three times the work as Teddy Long in about a third of the time. The man didn't like her, but he knew she was efficient. Efficient enough that she'd gotten the paperwork he'd asked her for a week early.

"I'm sorry?" she said questioningly. Her first instinct was to reach up and touch the bruise on her face, but she knew she had that well covered with makeup. The bruise had actually started to fade a little already, so it wasn't too hard to cover up... Though she knew it looked like she had more makeup on than usual. Of course, men really didn't seem to notice things like that...

"There's a bruise on the back of your arm. Looks a hell of a lot like a handprint or fingerprints or something," Booker said as he approached, reaching out for her arm, and Eve jerked out of his grasp, hissing through her teeth as his hand touched the bruise as she pulled away from him.

"It's nothing," the divas' champion told him, fighting not to add a snarky little 'like you would care anyway' to her words. She'd thought she'd managed to get the entire bruise on arm that had been left by Zack Ryder's fingers covered with body makeup, but apparently she'd been wrong.

"Like hell it's nothing. Let me see it," Booker said, his tone one that left no room for argument, and Eve made a face before holding out her arm, turning so that he could see it properly. She hissed through her teeth again when he ran his fingers over it, apparently noting that it was larger than what he could see. As soon as he let go of her, she pulled her arm back down to her side. "You tried to cover it. I got makeup on my fingers just now."

"A bruise is like a bull's-eye for your opponents. You should know that," she said, aware that Booker was looking at her face far too intently, and it was hell not to reach up and touch her fingers to the bruise on her cheek.

"The lighting in here is rather harsh," the SmackDown GM said after a moment. "Maybe that's what's causing the shadow on your face, but I'm thinkin' no. You got a bruise there, too?"

"I'm fine."

"You get into a fight in the locker room? Because Kaitlyn didn't yank you around by the arm or hit you in the face on Monday. And what I can see of that handprint looks kind of... big. Too big to come from a woman's hand anyway. What happened?"

"It's not an issue," Eve replied, because she'd be damned before she confessed to Booker T - a man that she knew couldn't stand her but only kept her around because she was the most competent person he had working for him - that Zack Ryder had attacked her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a match tonight-"

"I just cancelled it. Right this second," Booker interrupted. "I'm not putting you in that match when I don't know if you're medically cleared."

"It's just bruises-"

"Maybe it is. Maybe it's more. It was a tag team match anyway. I'll just reschedule it for next week. Once I'm sure you're ready to compete," the man said, eyeing her intently, like maybe he thought if he gave her that look long enough, she'd break down and tell him what had happened to her. Yeah, not likely. After a moment, he cleared his throat and continued to speak. "I suggest you go back to the locker room and change out of your ring gear and back into your street clothes. After that, maybe you can go through some win and loss records to see who might deserve a number one contender's match for the United States title."

Knowing that she didn't really have a choice in the matter - if he said her match was cancelled, that meant it was cancelled - Eve nodded her head. The truth was, her arm and face were still pretty sore, so it was probably best that she didn't have a match. Especially since her partner for her match had been supposed to be Rosa Mendes, and they'd been supposed to face Kaitlyn and Natalya... Rosa didn't spend much time in the ring, and she'd never been highly skilled anyway, which had meant that Eve had been preparing for an ugly night and a potentially painful loss. Not that Rosa wouldn't try to help, it just... Probably wouldn't have mattered much. At least having the match rescheduled for next week would give her more time to try to figure something out to help her win.

"Of course. You're the boss. It's your call," the diva stated, starting to walk past him, stopping when he spoke again.

"Eve, if you have something you need to talk about-"

"No offense, sir, but if I needed someone to talk to, I wouldn't go to my boss that hates me," she informed him, turning her head to look at him as she spoke, her expression not changing, though she did see Booker flinch slightly.

"I don't hate-"

"Lying doesn't become you. I'll go and change, then I'll come to look over who should be the in line for a chance at being the number one contender to the US title. I have to ask, though... If you're cancelling my match, that means you need another match to replace it. Any ideas?" she wanted to know, and Booker shrugged.

"Zack Ryder's been pestering me for a match lately. Something besides Saturday Morning Slam or Superstars. Maybe I'll give him a match," the man stated, and Eve had to fight to keep her face neutral at that, at the casual mention of the man that had attacked her. Not that Booker knew that or anything... But it really sucked that Zack Ryder was going to get television time on SmackDown because her match was cancelled... Especially since her match was being cancelled because of the bruises that he'd caused. Apparently, she hadn't broken his nose a few nights before, only bloodied it. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to compete. So yes, it was difficult to keep from flinching or making a face, but she tried very hard. She wasn't sure she was quite successful, but Booker didn't seem to notice. Or, if he did, he just wrote it off to her general disdain for Zack over the past eight or nine months.

"A match for Ryder. I'm sure he'll be thrilled," Eve finally said before turning and leaving the room, the woman hoping beyond hope that Zack would get his ass kicked tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks to all those that are giving this fic (and this pairing) a chance. I really appreciate the reviews.

Part Four

"Chica, what's wrong? I was told our match for tonight was cancelled," Rosa Mendes said as she made her way over to where Eve was, the woman changing back into her street clothes as Booker T had told her to do. Once she was done, she planned to grab her gear and head back to the SmackDown GM's office and stay there for the rest of the evening. After all, he had a job for her to do - go through and find potential number one contenders for the United States title - and being away from the divas' locker room was always a good thing for her. Even if being out of the divas' locker room meant she was instead in Booker's office. Booker, at least, was mostly civil to her, even if Teddy Long was a complete ass.

Eve shrugged her shoulders in response to Rosa's question. Though she'd been thinking of it as being cancelled earlier, she'd come to the conclusion that cancelled meant it wasn't going to happen at all while 'rescheduled' meant the date was just being changed. For some reason, it sounded better in her mind that way. Booker hadn't cancelled her match because of the bruises she had; he'd simply rescheduled it to a later date. "Not cancelled. Just rescheduled for next week," the diva said, vaguely wondering if maybe she and Rosa should work on a little strategy between now and then... And also wondering if it would even help. She was pretty sure Rosa hadn't won a singles match during her time in the WWE, and she figured that the woman's record in tag team matches wasn't much better.

"But why? I don't understand," Rosa said, and Eve sighed, turning away for a moment as she finished changing her shirt, then reached for the cardigan to go over it... Freezing when she felt Rosa reach out and take hold of her arm. The same arm that Booker had seen the bruise on when she'd been in his office. "What is this? Who did this?"

"It's nothing-" Eve began, cutting herself off when the women that they'd been supposed to be facing that night suddenly burst into the room, Kaitlyn giving her an angry glare.

"I can't believe you got our match cancelled-"

"I didn't get it cancelled. I didn't ask for this. And it was actually rescheduled. There's a difference."

"Booker claimed that he wasn't sure you were able to compete tonight. Aw... Did I hurt you last week?"

"You wish," Eve shot back, shaking her head at the younger woman. Originally, she hadn't thought Kaitlyn was so bad, but now she was running around calling herself the 'Hybrid Diva' - whatever the hell that meant - and acting like she deserved endless title shots despite the fact that she'd already had several of them and hadn't been successful yet... And well, Eve just really didn't like her.

Rosa looked up from where she'd been studying the bruise on Eve's arm. She frowned at Kaitlyn, then nodded toward the other woman's hands, which were on her hips. "And while you might have man-hands, you weren't the one that put this bruise on Eve," she said, and the assistant to the SmackDown GM yanked her arm from Rosa's grasp and glared at the other woman.

"Leave it alone," she snapped out, giving the other diva a pointed look, all too aware of both Natalya and Kaitlyn standing a few feet away from them. Kaitlyn was frowning in confusion, like what Rosa was saying wasn't quite clicking with her, but Natalya actually looked a little... concerned.

"What happened?" the older woman wanted to know, taking a step forward, and Eve shook her head, taking an automatic step back as she grabbed her cardigan and yanked it on over the sleeveless button-up shirt she was wearing.

"It's nothing. Nothing to worry about. I told Booker I was fine to go, but he refused and insisted on rescheduling the match." She sent a look at Kaitlyn. "You need to learn that there's a difference between cancelled and rescheduled. Cancelled means it isn't going to happen. Rescheduled means it's just going to happen at a different time. You get your chance next week. Got it?"

The younger woman shifted a little, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked a little uncertain. "What happened to you? I didn't grab your arm last week-"

"Yes, I know. So man-hands or not," Eve said, smirking when Kaitlyn glared at her, "it wasn't you. So don't go bragging, or I'll make you pay."

"I wouldn't brag-"

"Yes, you would. You're totally the type. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and do my job. Booker T wants me go through some won-loss records to find some people worthy of possibly being the number one contender for the United States championship," the diva said, picking up her things and starting to head for the door, pausing when Kaitlyn called out to her.

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"Doesn't *what* bother me?" the divas' champion wanted to know, arching a brow as she stood there, her bag slung over the shoulder that didn't have a bruised arm attached to it.

"You dress in your fancy little clothes, but you're really just doing the grunt work or whatever. Isn't it... lowering?" Kaitlyn asked with a smirk. A smirk that Eve returned.

"I'm sorry, my memory must be going. Because I seem to remember that, back when I got this job, I won it. In a match. And that my competition was... you. So it seems to me that - once upon a time - you wanted this job, too. The job that I'm doing quite well on. And I beat you fair and square in the ring in order to win the job. So... Does that mean that you're really so stupid that you didn't know that being an assistant to someone means doing actual work? Or are you just pretending that you didn't want the job now because it makes you feel better?" Eve wanted to know, lifting her chin as she looked at the other woman, her smirk turning a little more vicious when she saw Kaitlyn flick her gaze away. "No answer. Can't say I'm surprised. Of course, whether you want my job or not, I do know that I have something that you want desperately," the older woman continued, reaching out to pat her bag, where the divas' title was carefully packed away. Kaitlyn glared at her.

"I'm going to take that title from you. So keep it nice and shiny for me."

"Oh, please. I'm keeping it nice and shiny... for me. I'll see you next week. In the ring." She glanced around the locker room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."

That said, she turned and left the divas' locker room, shaking her head a bit in annoyance over the confrontation of sorts she'd just had, then carefully schooling her expression to one of total calm as she made her way toward the General Manager's office, already running some names through her head of who might possibly be in contention for the US title... Never once noticing the eyes that watched her as she walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks so those that continue to read/review/follow/favorite this one. :)

* * *

Part Five

"I've sent Teddy Long to do other paperwork," Booker T said as Eve entered the office, the woman frowning slightly as she stopped in the doorway.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" her voice suddenly very brittle, because so far Booker had been a decent person to work for in terms of the way he behaved toward her, the man looking her in the eye instead of trying to see down her shirt, and for a moment the SmackDown GM looked confused at her tone, but then his eyes widened and he shook his head.

"You misunderstand me. I simply assumed that you would prefer not to have him around. I don't know what happened to give you those bruises, but I know that you and Teddy don't get along, so I thought having him around would just make things worse. I didn't mean to imply-"

"You didn't. I just... I'm sorry," the divas' champion muttered, suddenly feeling a bit stupid as she stepped further into the office, dropping her things on the floor near the couch. "Do you have anyone in particular that you think should be considered for the number one contender's spot to the US title?"

"Not particularly, no. I'm actually open to the idea of a tournament to determine the new contender. Kind of build things up, if you will. Make it... special. Make it matter," the man said, and Eve nodded, reaching out to take the binders from his desk that held the recent win-loss records of everyone on the roster.

"So really... What you want me to look for is a group of guys worthy of a tournament? How many guys? Because if it's more than four, I'm thinking we'll be looking more at the win-loss records in order to rank the guys. Guy with the best recent record versus the guy with the worst."

Booker nodded. "I like that. Eight guys, and you figure out the seeding for them. I'd look at... Kofi Kingston, maybe the Miz?"

"What about guys that work both tag matches and singles matches?" Eve questioned. "Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow? They're both solid workers, and they could put on a good match. That's part of what this is, right? Making sure it's a good show for the people? And whoever wins the tournament... Gets their shot."

"Good point. So we go with those four, you choose four more, then find the win-loss records and we get them ranked. I'll announce that we're going to have a tournament starting next week, maybe even have Antonio Cesaro go out there and do some commentary since he is the current title holder," Booker said, then nodded. "I like it. You get that taken care of, okay? Choose the other four guys to go with the ones we already said, and then get then ranked by record."

Eve nodded in response, the woman relieved that she wasn't going to have to go through the records of every guy on the roster... Just eight of them. Of course, she still had to figure out who the other four would be, but at least she was being given some freedom there. Taking the binders to the couch, she sat down on it, curling her legs up on the couch with her, not worrying about showing anything because when she'd changed into her street clothes, it had meant she was changing into pants, so there was nothing to fear there; she was all nice and covered. Also? Booker wasn't even the type to look anyway.

Pulling out a pen and a notebook, she looked over at her boss. "What about Justin Gabriel? He doesn't get a lot of chances to shine on the main shows, but he's a good wrestler. Exciting to watch. Might be that he would take a chance like that and just... run with it."

Booker nodded. "I like that. Sounds good," he said, and Eve nodded, going back to her work, writing down Justin's name, adding the other names they'd already agreed on - Kofi, the Miz, Cody Rhodes, and Damien Sandow - to the list, frowning slightly as she contemplated other names... Then freezing when she heard the music that was suddenly blasting from the monitor.

Trying to look nonchalant, Eve shifted slightly, moving so that she could see the monitor better but still continuing her work, the woman frowning a bit as she took in the sight of Zack Ryder making his way down to the ring. He was smiling and doing his usual fist-pumping shtick, acting like a guy without a care in the world... Though a close-up of his face showed the remains of a split lip and some bruising around his nose. Funny, really, how it was that when Booker T had seen her bruises, he'd rushed to reschedule her match, but he allowed Zack to have one despite the marks on his face. In fact, he hadn't only allowed it; he had actually given Zack her spot on the card. Well, the spot that had belonged to her and Rosa and Natalya and Kaitlyn. But now was not the time to bring that up because it would just bring more attention to the bruises that she had that she felt were better left forgotten. So instead of saying anything about it, she settled a little more deeply into the cushions of the couch, frowning slightly as she watched the screen, the way Zack played to the crowd. It made her a little sick to see him, to see the way he acted like everything was fine and like he was a good guy after... After what he'd tried to do to her on Monday night. After the bruises he'd put on her.

Shaking her head, Eve tried to turn her attention back to the paperwork in front of her, the woman running through a mental list of names that might work for the tournament... Knowing all too well that Zack would probably bitch and moan and whine if he wasn't in the group. She could only hope that he would lose his match tonight and give her a reason to point to as to why he didn't belong.

Flicking another look to the screen, she smiled slightly as the music of Zack's opponent started, the woman nodding slightly as Damien Sandow walked out, the man starting to head toward the ring.

And that was when it happened.

The lights in the arena went out, plunging the crowd into darkness and, as Eve went to stand next to Booker, the diva putting the binders down and walking closer to the monitor, the lights in the arena came back on, revealing a trio of men in the ring beating Zack Ryder down.

The Shield.

"What in the blue hell?" Booker T managed to say, watching in shock as Seth Rollins sent Zack Ryder tumbling out of the ring, Ambrose jumping down after him and nailing Ryder with kick after kick to the ribs... Rollins jumping from the ring as well, his feet actually landing squarely on Ryder's back as he jumped down. Reigns was busy throwing things from the announce table, clearing it off and destroying equipment in the process...

And then the three men lifted Zack up, holding him high off the ground for a moment before sending him crashing through the announce table with a triple powerbomb... Seth Rollins getting one last kick to Zack's ribs in before the trio of men jumped over the barricade, leaving the scene of destruction behind them.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Six

"I don't know about you guys, but I certainly feel better now."

Seth looked over at Dean, the younger man shrugging his shoulders. "I would have liked to get a few more shots in," he replied, and Dean gave a sharp nod.

"True enough. But the longer we stayed out there, the more likely it was that officials or something would come out there to help him. Get in, get it done, get gone. That's our thing. It's pretty well worked for us so far, so we don't need to change it by making the beat down last too long. We can always go out and taken him down again some other time if we wanted to."

"That would make him think he's special. Like we think he's a threat or something," Roman put in, the big man leaning against the wall of the utility room they'd chosen for themselves on this particular night. They never stayed in a locker room, knowing it would make it too easy for someone to find them and maybe launch some sort of attack on them. So they kept it simple, storage closets, utility rooms, wherever they could find that had fairly easy access to the stands, since that was their preferred way to get to the ring. Good news was that the utility room they'd grabbed tonight was actually of decent size, and it had been easy to grab a few chairs to use from another room nearby.

"The man's no threat, that's for damn sure," Dean said. "But he is special. It takes a special sort of asshole to leave bruises on a woman."

Seth stiffened at the words, the man turning his head to look at his teammate. "Bruises? He left bruises on her?" he wanted to know, his expression making it clear that he wouldn't mind going out and finding Ryder again and maybe powerbombing him through something else.

Ambrose jerked a hand through his hair. "I saw her earlier. She was in her ring gear, so this is before her match got mysteriously moved to next week. There was obviously a bruise on her arm, like maybe someone had grabbed her."

"When I saw her she was in her regular clothes and had some sort of sweater on. Her arms were covered," Seth said quietly, his expression still angry. "She was leaving the divas' locker room. Probably just changed out of the ring gear and heading... I don't know, maybe to Booker's office?"

"She does work for him. He would have had to be the one to cancel her match. I saw her dressed to wrestle, so I'm guessing that she didn't ask for it to be cancelled," Ambrose stated, shifting his chair so that he could lean it back against the wall without their being too much danger of having the chair fall. "My guess is someone besides me noticed that bruise and decided that she shouldn't be in the ring."

"Did you see any other bruises?"

"Nope. Only saw her from the back, though, so... I did notice as we were beating Ryder down that it seemed like he had some bruising on his face. And I'm pretty sure that busted lip? Was already busted to begin with, we just opened it up again."

"We knew she'd messed up his face anyway. But I'm glad she left a mark on him," Rollins said, then took a deep breath, his hands fisted at his sides. "I wanted to rip the asshole's face off. That stupid smile when he came out there, acting like nothing was wrong. Just so happy to be on SmackDown... Didn't give a damn that he'd attacked one of the divas a few days ago." He shook his head. "And people think we're the bad guys."

"They vilify us because they don't understand us. And if we told them why we went out there and took down the idiot that they've turned into some sort of Internet hero, then they wouldn't believe us. They would say that we're liars because he wouldn't do that... Because they think they know him so well. They don't know him at all, and they don't know us at all. I'm fine with them not knowing us at all because that means that they can't predict what we'll do next. But it's sad that they don't know what type of person their precious Zack Ryder really is," Ambrose said, popping his knuckles as he spoke, the expression on his face telling Seth and Roman that he was considering something. The two men exchanged a glance before Roman shifted away from the wall slightly, arching a brow as he spoke.

"What are you thinking about, man?"

"I'm thinking that I wish there was a way to let people know what kind of person Ryder really is. Not just let them know... Force them to know. Make them see that he isn't some sort of a loveable goof. That he's an abusive asshole that thinks it's okay to put his hands on a diva. That a woman had to fight him off to get him away from her. I want them to see that."

"It's not like we have proof."

"Arenas have security cameras," Ambrose said, and Seth shook his head.

"No way. We are not trying to track down that footage and airing it or something. Just... No. We are not doing that to Eve. We... We can't do that to her," he said, and Ambrose sent a look his way, arching a brow as he studied him, then shrugged.

"It was a thought. But yeah. Airing that, making her see it... It would probably upset her. Which is likely an understatement. You know... I don't have a problem beating the shit out of a man. Any man. That's fine. I'm down with that. But attacking a woman is just bullshit and cowardice. And Ryder's a fuckin' coward. A self-important one at that. We took care of him tonight. For now."

"Yeah, but he probably won't be gone long," Reigns replied. "What happens when he comes back?"

Ambrose smirked. "Maybe we beat the shit out of him again. And again. And just keep doing it until we wipe that shit-eating grin off of his face for good," the man said. "Gotta say I like the sound of that. Piece of shit always annoyed the hell out of me whenever he was on-screen anyway. May as well do the world a favor and keep him off it. And we can keep an eye on Eve, too. Make sure she's okay. We good with that?" he asked, and the others nodded. "Good. Then I guess we're done for the night."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Seven

"What in the hell was that?" Booker T managed to ask, and all Eve could do was shrug her shoulders. The truth was, she wanted to cheer the Shield for what they'd just done to Zack Ryder, but she knew she couldn't exactly do that, not right now. The SmackDown General Manager had no idea what Ryder had done to her after RAW earlier in the week, and odds were he wouldn't believe her even if she did tell him. He wouldn't want to think that Zack Ryder, loveable loser, was capable of attacking a woman physically.

"I don't know. I didn't even know they were here tonight," Eve finally said, her words quiet. Since they'd made their first appearance at Survivor Series back in November, the trio had been more likely to show up on RAW than on SmackDown, so it was actually a bit of a surprise to see them tonight. Even more of a surprise to see them attack Zack Ryder. To be perfectly honest, he didn't seem to be a big enough name to be on their radar. Their attacks so far had been on people like Orton and Team Hell No and Ryback... Not on guys that held an imaginary internet championship and spent most of their free time on Twitter bitching about not being on the shows.

Booker shook his head. "This is ridiculous," he said, then looked over at the diva. "I've got to go to the trainers, check on Ryder. You... I wouldn't put anything past those guys, so you stay here and be careful," the man said, and it took Eve a moment to realize that he was concerned that the Shield might somehow come after her. The Shield, however, hadn't gone after any of the divas as of yet, and Eve didn't really think they would... Of course, she also hadn't really considered Zack Ryder to be the type of person to be on their radar, either, so...

"I'll stay here," Eve told him, part of her just glad he wasn't insisting that she accompany him or whatever because, really... If she was forced to go anywhere near Zack Ryder, she would probably end up kicking him somewhere really painful, no matter the consequences. Yeah, sure, he'd just had the shit beat out of him by a trio of men, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted revenge on him for herself. She was pretty sure that going with Booker T to check on Ryder only to end up attacking him herself would get her in big trouble and quite possibly fired... Because she, of course, was the bad girl and Zack was the good guy.

Bullshit.

Unaware of Eve's train of thought, the GM of SmackDown just nodded his head. "You do that... And maybe work on that tournament you were going to put together," he said, and Eve nodded, the diva watching as her boss left the room, then turning her attention back to the monitor, where they were already showing a replay of what had just happened. She frowned as she studied it... Not because she was upset with what the Shield had done; she wasn't. She kind of wanted to congratulate the guys on a great showing or something. Her frown was more because of her confusion than anything else because she just couldn't quite figure out why it was that Zack Ryder was suddenly on their radar as someone to beat up. It didn't make a lot of sense because Ryder was basically a nobody that barely appeared on the main shows - RAW and SmackDown - and was instead relegated to either Saturday Morning Slam or Superstars, which only appeared online now. He never really even made it on Main Event. Really, the guy's career had basically tanked since she'd kicked him in the balls at WrestleMania.

She was actually kind of proud of that.

Shaking her head, the diva made her way back toward the couch she'd been seated on when the attack had started, sitting down and picking up the binders she'd been going through... Quickly looking up when she heard the sound of someone approaching... The tension in her body relaxing slightly when she saw who it was.

"Booker T has gone to the trainers' area to see what's going on," the divas' champion told Kaitlyn, frowning a little as she looked at the young diva. Kaitlyn actually looked a little worried at the moment, and it kind of made her a little sick to think that the woman was worried about Zack Ryder. Zack Ryder didn't *deserve* to have anyone worried about him.

"I can't believe that happened. I know they've been going out there and attacking... But why Zack? What injustice has he committed?" the Houston native questioned, referring to the fact that the Shield often called themselves a 'shield against injustice'. And while Eve could think of a very solid injustice that Ryder had committed... Well, it wasn't like the Shield actually knew about that...

"I don't know. Maybe they thought it was an injustice that he had a spot on the card tonight," Eve replied, knowing that her tone was a little more snide than was really called for, but Kaitlyn didn't exactly bring out the best in her, and having her stand there and be all worried about Ryder of all people just made it worse.

Kaitlyn glared at her. "That is an awful thing to say. Zack didn't deserve that. No one they've attacked has deserved it, but Zack... He gets a chance on SmackDown for the first time in I don't know how long and they come down there and attack him for no reason. Of course, you hate him, so of course you'd make the bitchy remark. You probably sent them after him-"

"I don't even know them. I see them as frequently as you do. Which is to say that I see them whenever they make an appearance on the show. I've never even run into them backstage," Eve stated, putting her binder down and rising from the couch, heading over to the doorway where Kaitlyn stood. "Now, if you're actually concerned about Zack Ryder - and only God knows why you would be - I suggest you go down to the trainers' room and throw your fit there, because I don't have the patience for it. And even if you don't go and check on Ryder, I still strongly suggest that you get out of here. Because unlike you, I have work to do."

And with that, Eve nudged Kaitlyn out of the doorway, shut the door in her face, locked it, and headed back to the couch, picked up the binders again, and began to put together the tournament to find the next challenger for the US title.

* * *

Author's note:

Thanks to those that have reviewed so far. And for those curious, yes, Seth and Eve will come face to face very soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks to all that continue to read/review, follow, and favorite this one. :)

* * *

Part Eight

She just wanted to get the hell out of there. She'd spent the better part of an hour putting together a tournament to determine the next number one contender for the US title that Antonio Cesaro currently held, but that had actually been the better part of her evening. What had really gotten on her nerves was everyone's 'oh, poor Zack' attitude since he'd been attacked by the Shield. She'd managed to avoid a blow-up with everyone but Kaitlyn, but that didn't change the fact that she'd tensed each and every time she'd heard someone say something about Ryder. It had taken everything in her not to shout out that she was glad that the Shield had hurt him and that she hoped that they did it again because he damn well deserved it. She'd practically had to bite her tongue to say that she wanted to join in and help them attack Ryder because Lord knew that after what he'd done on Monday, she wanted get a little vengeance on him. Wanted him to pay for putting his hands on her. Pay for it with more than just a busted lip and bloody nose.

Taking a deep breath, Eve shook her head, squaring her shoulders as she did so, the diva beginning to head down the hallway, the strap of her bag securely on her shoulder, the woman wanting nothing more than to get out of the arena and back to her hotel where she could avoid anyone and everyone that thought the Shield were the villains tonight.

"Idiots," the divas' champion muttered, starting to turn a corner, then having to practice extreme control to avoid letting out a yelp when turning the corner caused her to run into someone else. Someone that, judging from the impact, was likely one of the men in the company; it was clear that whoever she'd run into was larger than her.

She automatically took a step back in an effort to retain her balance, then swore softly as she felt her high heel catch on a spot in the concrete, her ankle turning under and nearly causing her to fall... The man she had run into instantly reached out and grabbed her arm, hauling her back up, but he'd grabbed the same arm that Zack had left the bruise on, getting her in almost the same spot, and Eve couldn't help the sharp intake of breath, the almost-whimper that slipped through her lips at the feeling of it. Instantly the man let go of her arm, his hand sliding briefly to her waist before he let go of her completely, his eyes wide as he looked at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his gaze sliding back to the arm he'd grabbed, and Eve swallowed hard as she looked at the man in front of her, the diva's brain finally registering just who it was that she'd run into.

Seth Rollins.

A member of the Shield.

One of the men that had attacked Zack Ryder tonight.

Honestly? She wasn't sure whether she should run from him - he and his friends were nothing if not dangerous - or if she should congratulate him for a job well done tonight.

"Eve?" he questioned quietly when she didn't respond to him immediately. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head. "You didn't hurt me," she told him, feeling more than a little unsettled as she stood there. Her arm ached a little, yes, but she wasn't going to blame him for that. Rollins didn't know about the bruise, and he'd just been trying to keep her from falling. If the bruise hadn't been there, it wouldn't have hurt, so she wasn't going to blame him for the pain.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his gaze going back to her arm, and she could have sworn that his expression darkened as he studied her arm, though Eve knew he couldn't see anything. She was still wearing her cardigan; there was no way he could see the bruise that was there.

"I'm fine. You probably kept me from falling. Thank you for that," Eve told him, watching his face as she spoke, the man's gaze snapping back to hers. She could feel his eyes moving over her face, and then he frowned again, tilting his head to the side, taking a step toward her. Despite the fact that he hadn't behaved threateningly toward her, she had to fight not to take a step back, the diva all too aware of how things had turned out for pretty much everyone else that had encountered the Shield. Of course, she was standing there with just one member of the Shield, not the entire group... And they'd never gone after a diva. Something told her that Seth Rollins wasn't going to attack her now. Even so, it was very difficult to stand still and hold her ground when he suddenly reached toward her, his hand coming towards her face.

His touch was extremely gentle as he brushed his fingers over her cheekbone, the lightest of touches. He frowned as he looked at her. "Your makeup is fading," Rollins stated quietly, and Eve fought not to flinch, immediately knowing what he was getting at. She'd run her hand over her face several times tonight, probably wiping some of her makeup off as she did so, and now... Now she was sure he could see the shadow of the bruise that was left from Zack Ryder hitting her a few nights ago.

Quickly, she looked down, not meeting his gaze, the woman taking a step back, stiffening a little in surprise when she felt the man's hand slide to her chin, carefully urging her to look up at him. His expression was one of concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked, the same words that he'd asked before, but it was different now. Different because he was no longer asking her if she was okay after they'd run into one another. Now he'd seen the bruise on her face, and they both knew that he was asking about that.

"It's nothing," she told him, and Eve just knew he was going to argue that, but that was when someone else called out to him, and he turned his head, both of them looking down the hallway to where Ambrose and Reigns were standing, clearly waiting for him. It was Ambrose that had called out to him.

"I'm coming," he replied, his hand falling from Eve's face, the man giving her one last look before he turned and walked towards the other members of the Shield... Eve standing there silently as she watched him go.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to all that have reviewed/favorited/followed this one.

* * *

Part Nine

"That was not your best idea ever."

Seth rolled his eyes at Dean's words. "I didn't go up to her intentionally, man. I ran into her. I mean that literally." He made a face. "I hurt her arm."

Roman's brows drew down as he frowned. "What?"

"I grabbed her arm to keep her from losing her balance or whatever and... I know I hurt her." The youngest of the trio - though he really wasn't the youngest by much - let his head fall back against the seat of the car. "The look on her face. I never meant to..."

"Which arm?" Dean wanted to know. "The bruise I saw was on her left arm. Pretty high up. If you grabbed her left arm to keep her on her feet-"

"I grabbed her where the damn bruise is," Seth muttered, then hissed through his teeth. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but it had been reflex to grab her arm to keep her on her feet. It would have been better if he'd grabbed her around the waist or something... But after what had happened to her a few days ago, having some guy she didn't know grab her around the waist probably would have scared the hell out of her. As it was, he knew he made the diva nervous, and he really didn't like that. He sure as hell didn't want to scare her.

"Dude, you didn't know," Roman said, twisting around so that he could look into the backseat where Seth was, and Dean flicked a look into the rearview mirror as he drove.

"Roman's right. I never said which arm had the bruise before, and you just grabbed her to keep her from falling. I sincerely doubt she blames you for it," Ambrose said, and Seth nodded slightly, then reached up, hitting the surface above him.

"She had a bruise on her face," he said, very aware of the slight jerk of the car at his words. Dean had already told them he didn't know if she had any other bruises, but the small uncontrolled reaction to Seth's words let him know without a doubt that Dean hadn't known about that.

"What?" Ambrose demanded, his tone deadly, and Seth heaved out a sigh, his hands closed into fists as he dropped them down to his sides.

"You heard me. She had a bruise on her face. Covered pretty well by makeup, but definitely there. I'm guessing her makeup job faded over the course of the night and she didn't realize it. She knows I saw it. I'm pretty sure she was embarrassed that I saw it."

"She has nothing to be embarrassed about. Ryder's the ass that put his hands on her, and she fought the asshole off. And I say good for her on that. She left marks on him, too," Roman put in.

"Yeah, but it's obvious she doesn't want anyone to know what happened. I'm guessing she didn't tell anybody. She sure as hell didn't report it," Rollins replied. "I think Eve's a smart enough woman that she doesn't blame herself or whatever, but that doesn't mean she wants the world to know it happened to her. I'm guessing she doesn't want a guy she doesn't know to figure it out, either. We're a wild card to her. She doesn't know what we're going to say or do. No one back there trusts us."

"And do you really want the trust of some jackass like John Cena?" Ambrose wanted to know, his question drawing a snort from Rollins.

"Hell, no. But I don't want Eve Torres to be scared of me, either. I don't want her to look at me the same fucking way she would look at an ass like Zack Ryder," the younger man said, shifting around so that he was leaning forward in his seat as he spoke. "That's the line I won't cross, you know. We go after some guy that has a diva with him... I'm not going to let her walk all over me or whatever, but I'm not going to hurt her, either. I mean, she comes at me and tries to scratch my eyes out, I'm going to defend myself, yeah, but... That's it."

"Sounds fair. And a lot better than how some of the supposed good guys out there feel," Dean replied. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as they sat at a stoplight. "Before we found you with Eve earlier, I'd headed toward the trainers area."

"Yeah?"

"Seems to me that they were sending Ryder for x-rays, but that they didn't think we did any serious damage," the man said, and Seth made a face at that.

"Well, that's just too damn bad," he stated, and Ambrose smirked.

"My thoughts exactly. Although I did hear them say it was a miracle that he came away with just bruised ribs and not broken ones." He flicked a look over at Rollins, then returned his eyes to the road. "Especially with that little number you did when you jumped out of the ring and landed on his back. Since he was trying to get up when you did it, he jammed his wrist when you jumped on him and knocked him back down."

"Too bad I didn't break it."

"We busted up his face pretty good. I heard something about some place above his lip being so busted they thought it might need stitches. And then there's the black eye, which I think might have been from me. Roman's punch didn't break his jaw or anything, though. I imagine he'll get some good bruising out of the deal, though. I'm guessing he won't be cleared for the ring until at least the RAW after this next one. Maybe longer. If he stays at home where he's supposed to, at least that means Eve won't have to see his ugly face for a week or two," the man said, then shrugged. "Of course, he kept showing up last year when he was all banged up and shit."

"Yeah. And Kane threw him off the damned stage for it," Seth stated.

"We can't have Kane outdo us," Roman put in. "So if that little bastard shows up..."

"We take him down again. Make an example of him," Dean said. "We beat you down, you stay down until we say you can get up again. And Zack Ryder? Does not have my fucking permission to get up again."


	10. Chapter 10

Part Ten

She sat quietly in the hot tub, the woman happy that the hotel had an all-night indoor pool and hot tub, and even more pleased that no one else was there at the moment. After getting through SmackDown, she'd wanted nothing more than to relax, and she'd actually considered just taking a bubble bath in her room, but a quick look at the size of the bathtub - not very big at all - had made her decide that heading downstairs and taking a chance with the pool and hot tub being empty was her best bet. Thankfully, the place had been empty, and Eve had been enjoying the warmth of the water for the past fifteen minutes.

Sighing softly, the woman let her head fall back to rest against the edge of the hot tub, making a face when she realized that the clip in her hair seemed to be less secure than it should be. Reaching up, she quickly re-twisted her hair and secured the clip more tightly... The diva turning her head in surprise at the sound of the heavy door that led into the pool area being pushed open. Frowning, she stared at the door, waiting to see who was entering, not sure whether she should be relieved or not when she saw CM Punk come into the room. She and Punk got along okay for the most part, but they weren't exactly the best of friends... And she really wasn't in the mood for any caustic comments from the man.

Punk stopped short when he saw her in the hot tub, the man then shrugging his shoulders and making his way over, slipping off his shoes and dropping his towel on one of the chairs before coming to the edge of the hot tub and sitting down, letting his legs dangle into the water.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, and Eve shrugged her shoulders.

"Just needed to relax, and the bathtubs in this place are so small that I didn't think a bubble bath would be very relaxing, so I came here instead," she replied, glancing down at the water that was bubbling away because of the jets. "So far, it's working well enough."

"Until I stopped by, you mean," Punk said with a smirk, and Eve rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say that."

"But you thought it," he tossed back, the man removing his shirt as he spoke, throwing it toward the chair he'd put his towel on, then sliding into the hot tub across from her. The WWE champion frowned as he got a better look at her. "What happened to you?"

Eve blinked, fighting not to swear under her breath. Knowing the water would just wash it off anyway, she wasn't wearing any makeup to cover her bruises and, while he couldn't see the one on her arm right now because she was almost up to her neck in the water, he could obviously see the one on her face... The same one that Seth Rollins had seen earlier in the night. When she'd headed down to the pool, she'd let her hair fall in her face enough to obscure it, but now her hair was pulled up in a clip, so there was no way he was going to miss it.

"It's nothing," she finally said after a moment that had dragged on way too long, and Punk frowned at that, the man pushing away from the side of the hot tub and moving over closer to where she was, his gaze focused on the bruise that was high on her cheek.

"You didn't have a match tonight. And I don't think Kaitlyn managed that good of a hit on you at RAW," the man stated, lifting a hand to her face, his thumb moving over the bruise... His brow arching when Eve instinctively flinched back from the touch. "Eve?"

"I said it's nothing. I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about," she said, hoping that was true. After all, Zack had ended up running off in pain after RAW, and she hoped that meant that the fact that she'd fought him off would keep him from trying again... Not to mention the fact that there were rumors that he would be out for a couple of weeks because of what the Shield had done to him that night.

Punk's gaze narrowed as he looked at her. "Nothing to worry about? Why don't I believe you?"

"I don't know. Why don't you? It's none of your business anyway," Eve told him, the woman moving so that she could get out of the hot tub, all too aware of the red bikini she was wearing as she got to her feet and headed over to her things. Behind her, she could hear the jets of the hot tub slowing down, meaning Punk had hit the button to shut them off. Frowning, the diva reached out for her towel and started to dry off, freezing when Punk's hand came out and took hold of her arm, holding onto her just above the elbow, several inches below the bruise that he had to be able to see.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, and Eve shrugged.

"It's a bruise. I'd think you would be able to recognize one," the woman replied, then jerked in surprise when she felt Punk very carefully wrapping his hand around her arm, barely touching her skin... She was almost certain of what he was doing, though. He was checking to see how the size and shape of the bruise compared to the size and shape of his own hand. And despite the fact that the bruise had come from Zack's hand and not Punk's, she imagined that the differences in size were only slight.

"Who did this?"

"Why do you care?" Eve wanted to know, the woman shaking his hand off her arm - an easy thing to do since he was being careful not to put pressure on the bruise - and reaching down to grab her robe, putting it on as she turned around to face him. "We're not exactly buddies, Punk. You have no reason to care what happens to me."

"We used to be friends, and I thought we'd gotten along pretty well lately. And I don't like seeing a woman get knocked around by a man. And I'm guessing those bruises came from a man."

"They did. But the man ran away clutching his bloody nose and walking a little funny, so I'm thinking he won't try it again. I can take care of myself, Punk."

"And if you're wrong? If he does he try it again?"

"Then I take him down again. And again. And I keep doing it until he gets the message," she told the man, tying the belt of her robe, then letting her hair down, making sure that it fell across her cheek to hide the bruise. Slipping on her flip-flops, she grabbed her towel, then looked back at the WWE champion.

"Eve-"

"It's my business. And you have bigger things to worry about, anyway... Like your match against Ryback on Monday. Good night, Punk... and good luck at RAW," she told him, turning and heading for the door before the man had a chance to respond.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Eleven

The woman made her way through the halls of the hotel, purposely using the stairs instead of the elevator because she figured she would run into fewer people that way. Eve was mentally cursing herself for thinking that it would be okay to go down to the pool for awhile... Cursing herself for allowing herself to be in a position where someone would see her bruises. And as bad as it was that CM Punk had seen the bruise on her face, she could have just shrugged that off as some kind of injury that came from sparring. Punk knew she was into jujitsu and kickboxing; he probably would have believed her. But instead she'd gotten out of the hot tub and he'd seen the bruise on the back of her arm, and that one was much more difficult to just shrug off.

"Idiot," she whispered to herself, knowing all too well just how persistent CM Punk could be when he wanted to be and hoping that he would decide to concentrate on his match against Ryback on Monday instead of worrying about her.

"Usually he wouldn't even be at SmackDown anyway," Eve continued, though she knew why Punk had been there that night... One last check with the WWE's doctors to ensure that he would be cleared to compete on Monday. Because even though the match was scheduled, there had to be an actual doctor's clearance. Putting a wrestler into a match when they had a known injury and no definitive medical clearance? An opening for a lawsuit right there. So of course the WWE was being careful... Which meant Punk had been there tonight at SmackDown, and then he'd shown up at the pool, and now he knew that she had two rather prominent bruises and no real explanation for them.

Damn it.

Shaking her head, the diva pushed open the door to the floor her room was on, not thinking about the fact that the alcove for ice and vending machines was right next to the exit from the stairs... Nearly running into someone coming from the alcove as she stepped into the hallway. Quickly, she jerked back from the person, unthinkingly shoving her hair back from her face as she did so... Pushing it back in front of the bruise almost as quickly, but not before the man in front of her saw it. The widening of his eyes made it obvious he'd seen it... Besides that, he'd already indicated before that he'd seen it, back when they'd run into each other at the arena. Of course, at that point, it had still been at least partially covered in makeup, so he hadn't really gotten the full effect.

"Hey, are you okay?" Seth Rollins asked her, pretty much the same thing he'd asked her earlier, and Eve had to admit, the more he asked her that, the more she wanted to tell him the truth... That no, she really wasn't okay. But Rollins was basically a stranger, even if they did work together... And even if he was looking at her with concern for the second time tonight.

"I'm fine," she muttered, going to push her hair back from her face again because it was simply habit, the woman managing to stop herself just in time.

"You don't look like you feel fine. You look like you were running from something," Rollins replied, the man shooting a look at the door she'd just come through, then carefully reaching out to her. For some reason, Eve held herself still as he reached for her. Maybe she was curious as to what he was going to do; she wasn't sure. Whatever the case, she just stood there as Rollins carefully pushed her hair back from her face, the man frowning as he looked at the bruise there, his touch very gentle as he reached out and ran his finger over it. "That looks bad."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't feel very good, either," Eve muttered without thinking about it, the diva then flinching slightly at her own flippant words because well... This was a member of the Shield, and she had no idea what it might take to set him off.

"I'm sure it doesn't. Are you sure you're okay? The way you came out of that stairwell..."

She shook her head, realizing that Rollins really did think that maybe someone was after her or something. "It's not... No one's chasing me or anything, if that's what you're thinking. I just..." She shook her head again. "I don't know. I'm fine."

"You're shaking. I don't think it's because you're cold, and I hope it's not because you're scared of me," he told her, something almost earnest in his gaze, a hint of worry that made her think he really was bothered by the idea that she might be afraid of him.

"You've never done anything to hurt me," Eve finally said, not sure what else to say, because in all honesty, she couldn't really say he didn't make her nervous; he did. But she wasn't sure if she was really scared of him, or if he made her nervous for other reasons.

"And I won't do anything to hurt you. None of us will," he said, and Eve knew without asking that he meant the rest of the Shield when he said that. The Shield was the only collective 'us' the man was really a part of. "It's not our thing. Hurting women. We don't do that, and we wouldn't start by going after you." Reaching toward her, he brushed his fingers over the bruise on her face again, the man shaking his head slightly. "I get that you have no reason to trust me, but... I really won't hurt you. Neither will Dean or Roman."

Eve nodded slightly at that, the woman feeling more than a little awkward as she stood there, and growing more aware of the fact that she was standing there in flip-flops and a short robe that covered her bikini and nothing else. And the tie had slipped enough on her robe that Rollins could probably see part of her bikini... Though it didn't seem like he was really trying to get a look. Even so... "I should go."

"Of course. I'm not going to stop you," he said, then tilted his head slightly, frowning down at her. "I could walk you to your room?" Rollins added, his tone making the statement sound more like a question than anything else, and Eve looked up at him in surprise.

"You... No. I mean, thank you, but it's not necessary. I'm okay. I promise," she told him, nodding slightly at him before taking off down the hallway in the direction of her room, the diva all too aware of the man's eyes on her as she went.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Twelve

Booker T had taken her off live events for the weekend. The tag team matches that had been scheduled were changed to a singles match, with Kaitlyn taking on Natalya one night and Natalya taking on Rosa the next night with Kaitlyn as the special guest referee. Eve supposed it was meant to be a nice gesture from her boss - after all, he'd cancelled her SmackDown match because of the bruise he'd caught sight of; it didn't make sense for him to make her wrestle an untelevised event the next two nights... But Eve sort of figured that the matches being changed would just make the others angrier with her, like it was somehow her fault or something. At least the matches had just been changed and not cancelled for the weekend. Of course, if Booker had cancelled the matches, he couldn't have used the same match to fill in for them during the weekend that he had on SmackDown... After all, the Shield had put Zack Ryder out of commission for at least a couple of weeks.

She was going to have to try not to seem too pleased about that.

"Well, you might have gotten out of your match at SmackDown and your matches last weekend, but you're not getting out of it tonight," a sing-song voice called out to her, and Eve arched a brow, turning to look at Alicia Fox as the other diva approached.

"I didn't ask for my matches to be cancelled. Booker chose to pull me from them," Eve replied, then gestured to the clothes she was wearing at the moment - her wrestling gear. "And clearly, I'm not trying to get out of anything tonight. So I suggest that you get ready to lose. I haven't decided how I'm going to beat you yet... I have so many options. The neckbreaker... the moonsault... I could always make you tap out. That's always fun, and I do have a few submission moves at my disposal," the divas' champion said, and Alicia sneered at her, the woman's hands going to her hips.

"You're such a bitch."

"Well, you're a two-faced loser, so I guess we both have issues," Eve replied, the woman tossing her hair back over her shoulder before stalking out of the divas' locker room, not even bothering to look back at Alicia as she went. It wouldn't do to show fear, and Alicia really wasn't the type to try and jump someone in the locker room. Shaking her head, the woman headed down the hallway, not really sure where she was going to go, but pretty sure that staying in the locker room wasn't the best of ideas... After all, Alicia wasn't the only one that didn't like her in there. Kaitlyn and Natalya didn't, either, and nor did Layla... Not that Eve really cared about any of them. She'd never been friends with Layla or Kaitlyn, she'd had her share of problems with Alicia in the past and in reality, Natalya had been the one to turn bitch on her way back when the third generation diva had teamed up with Beth Phoenix to do the whole Divas of Doom thing... Something that would have worked so much better for them if it hadn't taken Beth something like three tries to get the title off of Kelly freaking Kelly of all people.

"Whatever," Eve muttered, shaking her head, the woman turning a corner... Freezing when she saw a trio of men dressed in black several feet down the hallway. During their short time on the WWE's main roster, it was uncommon for anyone to see the Shield just standing around in the halls... Usually they were either seen in the ring attacking people or backstage attacking people... Or using their own video camera to record messages to the people they were after. Only once had they actually given an interview, and that had been back in November, right after they'd shown up on the main roster. And yet? This was the second time in as many shows that she'd seen them in the hallway. Strange, really. Especially since they had, so far, been so good at being seen only when they wanted to be.

Taking a deep breath, Eve debated for a moment whether she should continue on her way - which would take her right past them - or if she should just turn around and go back. But Seth Rollins had told her that none of them would hurt her-

As she watched, she saw Seth say something to the others, and then he was headed her way, the man jogging over to her, his gaze moving over her face as he came to a stop in front of her. Frowning, he glanced down, taking in the wrestling gear she was wearing.

"You have a match tonight?" he said, his tone only slightly questioning, and the diva shrugged.

"Against Alicia," she replied, the woman frowning a little as she spoke. For some reason, Seth seemed larger than he had either of the times she'd run into him before... Maybe it was all the black he was wearing. He'd been wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt at the hotel on Friday night, and even though he'd been in his typical Shield gear when she'd run into him in the hallway after the show, she'd been dressed in her business wear, which included a pair of three-inch heels... Right now, she was wearing her wrestling boots, which didn't exactly give her any extra height.

Seth shifted his weight a little, a frown on the man's face. "Are you okay for that?" he asked, his hand coming up, almost like he was going to touch her face - or more likely, the bruise that he knew was there - but then he dropped his hand, shoving it in his pocket, like he needed it to be there so he wouldn't reach for her again.

Eve cleared her throat, her gaze sliding beyond Rollins to his teammates, noting that the two men were talking amongst themselves, but occasionally looking their way as well. "It's just a bruise. I've wrestled with worse. Booker didn't need to cancel my match on Friday. I could have wrestled," she said, shrugging a little. "I should really go."

He nodded, stepping to the side a little so she could pass him by more easily. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't be seen with any of us," he said softly, waiting for her to pass before speaking again. "Eve?"

She glanced back over her shoulder at the man. "Yeah?"

"Good luck tonight. In your match," he said, and she smiled.

"Thanks. But I don't think I'll need it."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Thirteen

"She's afraid of us."

Seth shook his head, the man glancing over at Roman, who was the one that had spoken. "She's not... We make her nervous, maybe. I don't think she's out-and-out afraid."

"Not of you. She's not afraid of you," Dean corrected. "I'm not so sure she isn't still afraid of me and Roman. I mean... It's understandable. We've pulled some stuff. Most people in the company would be a little scared to stumble on all three of us in the hall. But she didn't run, and she was fine with you coming up to talk to her, so... At least there's that."

"I told her that none of us would hurt her," Seth said quietly. He'd told the others about running into Eve at the hotel the night after SmackDown, though he hadn't really given them any details beyond the fact that he'd gotten a better look at the bruise on her face.

Ambrose arched a brow at the younger man. "And when was that?"

"The other night. In the hotel hall. I just... I wanted her to know she didn't have to be afraid of us, so I told her that none of us would ever hurt her. I don't know if she believed me or not, but... At least now I've told her," Rollins said, his gaze moving to the screen, where Eve was currently being shown, the brunette woman making her way down to the ring with her title slung over her shoulder. Alicia Fox was already in the ring, the woman sneering at the diva's champion... Eve responding with a smile and a wave, looking supremely confident and acting something like a beauty queen. It was something he'd seen her do before, the smug smile and all of that, acting like some sort of benevolent princess in front of the masses or something... And while he'd suspected it to be fake anyway, now... Now he knew it was totally an act. The woman walking down the aisle, heading toward the ring for her match... She was nothing like the wide-eyed woman that had stood in front of him a few days before with a bruise on her face. Nothing like the woman with the pretty smile that had told him she didn't think she would need luck barely half an hour before. That had been the actual Eve. This woman on her way to the ring? Was just a facade.

"She can definitely put on the brave face," Dean muttered, the man crossing his arms over his chest as he approached the screen, his eyes on what was happening in the main part of the arena. Eve had entered the ring now, holding up her title with a smile, then handing it off to the timekeeper. This was a non-title match, so there was no need for her to give it to the referee for him to hold it over his head. Turning her back on Alicia seemed to be a mistake, though, because the other woman attacked Eve from behind , knocking her to the mat... But Eve wasn't just going to take it, the woman instantly rolling beneath the ropes and to the outside, waiting for Alicia to be dumb enough to lean her head out through the ropes - which of course she was - the woman grabbing for Eve, but Eve was ready for her, grabbing hold of Alicia's head and dropping down, actually sitting on the floor, her grip on Alicia causing the other diva's neck to slam into the bottom rope.

"Well, that's one way to teach her not to try and sneak attack again," Roman said quietly, smiling just a bit as he spoke, the man nodding in approval as Eve quickly got back into the ring and went on the attack... Clearly, Alicia was paying for her mistake - leaning out through the ropes - far more than Eve had paid for hers. Even so, it was unlikely that Eve would turn her back on her opponent again, not even before the match had started and just to hand her title to the timekeeper.

Seth remained silent during the match, nodding slightly when Eve landed some kicks on Alicia - the sound of them making clear they were solid kicks that hit their mark... The divas' champion ducking a clothesline by the other woman, then hooking her arms around the ropes to catch herself, managing to stop her own momentum and avoiding another clothesline attempt. The miss caught Alicia off-guard, causing her to stumble a little, just enough for Eve to get the advantage again, the champion knocking her off her feet... But not taking her out of it enough, as Alicia was able to get her knees up when Eve went for a standing moonsault... Dean hissing through his teeth as he watched the impact.

"Come on, Eve... You know you can beat this one. You've done it before," Ambrose said, and Seth looked over at that, glancing at first one teammate, then the other... Noting that it was clear that they were cheering for Eve to win this match just as much as he was. It was weird, really... A week ago, they wouldn't have even bothered to watch the divas' match - it's not like they planned to attack any of the women in the company, so they were kind of off the Shield's radar... But that was before they'd overheard Ryder attacking Eve, before they'd overheard her fighting him off... Before he'd run into her a few times and realized that he had more than a passing interest in what happened to her. And now? Now, all three of them were sitting there, watching her match, hoping that she would win.

And she did.

Seth smirked as he watched Eve manage to turn the tables on Alicia, fighting through the pain that Alicia's knees slamming into her back had to have caused, the diva's champion managing to send Alicia into the ringpost, then catching the other woman as she stumbled back toward the ring, hitting her with a quick, fierce-looking neckbreaker before covering her for the three-count... Pinning Alicia Fox to end the match and get the win.

"Thatta girl," Reigns said with an approving nod, the big man smiling as he rose to his feet. For his part, Dean was silent in his approval, instead just looking satisfied as he rose as well... His gaze sliding over the small room that they were in.

"Okay then. Eve's match is over, and she put another victory in the books. Good on her. But it's over now... Which means that the three of us? Have to find some trouble to get into," Ambrose said, and Seth smiled as he got to his feet, glad for Eve's win and ready for whatever came next.

"Alright. Then let's get to it."


End file.
